The Olympics just changed its policy on trans athletes

Transgender athletes will no longer be required to undergo gender reassignment surgery in order to participate in the Olympics, according to documents obtained by Outsports last week. The new policy is set to take affect before the summer Olympics in Rio this summer. The guidelines stem from an unpublicized “Consensus Meeting on Sex Reassignment and Hyperandrogenism” the International Olympic Committee held last November. The guidelines have not yet been distributed by the IOC, but Outsports received the new policy via a trusted source.

“To require surgical anatomical changes as a pre-condition to participation is not necessary to preserve fair competition and may be inconsistent with developing legislation and notions of human rights,” the new guidelines state. “It is necessary to ensure insofar as possible that trans athletes are not excluded from the opportunity to participate in sporting competition.”

Back in 2004, the IOC allowed trans athletes to compete in their events if they had both legally and anatomically changed their gender. This means that the athletes must have undergone gender reassignment surgery. Trans women also had to undergo two years of hormone replacement therapy post surgery in order to be eligible to compete.

These guidelines gained scrutiny due to the fact that gender reassignment surgery is expensive, and the fact that our private parts play no role in how well we swim or flip through the air. These rules were most likely targeted at trans women who would be competing with testicles, giving them an extra boost of testosterone. But, there are drugs that can chemically block those levels of testosterone.

This rides on the heels of trans athlete Chris Mosier challenging these guidelines. Chris is an American triathlete and duathlete who has qualified for the World Championships this June. But, he was unsure if he would be able to compete in those championships since he has not undergone reassignment surgery. He was ready to fight.

Luckily, he won’t ave to fight as hard. According to the new guidelines, “those who transition from female to male are eligible to compete in the male category without restriction.” Trans women have also seen their restrictions reduced, as  athletes now only have to undergo hormone replacement therapy for a year before competing, and maintain regulated testosterone levels for the remainder of their Olympic eligibility.